How an ANC Eastern Cape region became a “gangsters’ paradise”

Intimidation, victimisation and threats are the order of the day in the Dr WB Rubusana region in the Eastern Cape, as described by an ANC member who was successful in halting the region’s elective conference.  

According to Ondela Sokomani, his life has been under threat since he and four other applicants took on the ANC, exposing a series of manipulation of party processes in the region, which includes East London. 

Sokomani has described a region run with thuggery and gangsterism as the party prepares to host its provincial conference. In some cases, it is alleged that branch members are barred, by armed bouncers, from attending meetings. 

Video footage Sokomani shared with the Mail & Guardian shows one female branch secretary (known to the M&G) being dragged kicking and screaming out of a meeting she had convened for branches. 

Sokomani alleges that these antics are part of the problem of inflating branch member numbers. In some cases, deceased ANC members have been used to inflate numbers and some branches have used identity documents of incarcerated persons to ensure they reach a quorum, he adds. 

“The extent to which these comrades have aborted the constitutional prescripts of the ANC is scathing. The level of desperation is what is scaring us, because we are never going to realise the renewal of the ANC if comrades identify [their] only source of livelihood through being a leader of the ANC — we have big problems,” he said. 

Sokomani succeeded in preventing the region from going to conference after the disbandment of branches in 12 wards by the provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi. 

Ngcukayitobi was also accused of trying to influence branch delegates in the build up to the provincial conference. He was heard in a leaked recording, which circulated on social media, instructing alleged members on who should be picked as a delegate from the unknown branch. 

In the court application, Sokomani argued that the decision to dissolve the branch executive committees was procedurally unfair and, therefore, unlawful because the branches and regions were not notified of the impending decision, and nor were they consulted before it occurred.

He also argued that if delegates, who have been elected at properly constituted branch general meetings, are denied participation in a conference, it stands to reason that any decision to hold a conference is invalid and that the outcomes of such a conference are equally invalid, null and void.

East London high court Judge Nozuko Mjali agreed, ruling that the regional conference, which was scheduled for 8 April, be interdicted, pending the finalisation of all internal appeals and compliance. 

In a statement shortly after the 7 April judgment, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe  said that the judgment vindicates the decision of the secretary general’s office suspending the convening of the regional conferences pending the resolution of outstanding disputes. 

“The current disputes include among others, allegations of membership manipulation, leading to the inflation of membership numbers in certain branches. The ANC will uphold the decision of the court and cure all procedural violations as identified. We will ensure that the legitimacy of our branches is restored and protected,” Mabe said.

The statement by Mabe is of very little comfort to Sokomani, whose house was invaded by armed intruders shortly after the verdict was publicised. 

Instead Sokomani is calling for Luthuli House to take over the process from the provincial leaders. 

People who cast themselves as the flag bearers of anti-corruption and renewal are at the centre of what is happening, he told the M&G. 

Sokomani accused the provincial leadership of having no political will and appetite to genuinely deal with corruption and the heist of the ANC by what he called a “concerted effort of a criminal network that is able to go to whatever lengths to achieve its selfish ends” in Rubusana. 

“Female members are being dragged around by bouncers, because there is an intent that the preferred outcome must be the one that finds expression, come hell or high water. Calata House has abdicated its duty to be an arbiter which we can have confidence in in resolving these matters. 

“Comrades are too conflicted and because the ripple effect of these meetings also speaks to their own re-election, they can no longer apply objectively … to matters affecting the region. National should take over the situation in Rubusana because the situation is abnormal. Calata House is an extension of a faction in relation to Rubusana. If you are perceived to be sharing ideas with a certain grouping, you are not listened to. You cease to have your rights as a member of the ANC. That is the issue we are faced with.” 

In February, Ngcukayitobi told the M&G that branch general meetings, set up to nominate preferred candidates for the provincial conference, were halted in the Dr WB Rubusana and Nelson Mandela regions, which had seen a spate of violence. One party member died. 

“Because we are concerned about the safety and integrity of the ANC process, we had decided to halt those [branch general meetings] for a few days and we have assigned two committees to investigate those incidents, propose remedies and understand the depth of the problem,” he said. “If it’s a select few branches, we can just isolate those branches. That is the decision about halting [the meetings], but it’s not going to be permanent.”

Sokomani said that part of the problem was that the province had not communicated that it had restarted proceedings to convene branch meetings. 

Instead, Sokomani said, his branch in Mdantsane, East London received a report that it had passed an audit, “when we never received a green light that we must sit, which is the stealing and the heist that we are talking about”.  

Comment from the regional secretary Antonio Carels will be added when received.

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